Universal liquid dispenser



Nov. 20, 1 956 L. G. BATES UNIVERSAL LIQUID DISPENSER Filed Nov. 8, 1952 LA WRf/VCZ 6. EA 756 U i d States Patent LIQUID DISPENSER Lawrence'G.- Bates, Shaker Heights, Ohio, assignor to Continental Say-When Corporation, Cleveland, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Application November 8, 1952, Serial No. 319,541

Claims (Cl. 222-401) Liquid dispensers ofthe type involving a hand-operated pump'mountedon a container-closure as successfully used oh bottles of size up to'a gallon, if appliedto larger container s lose their effectiveness. I have found that this is not due to a deficiency in size of pump, as might prima facie be supposed; but it is due to a peculiar relationship with the air in the container. A dispenser mounted on the icontainer-closure and which is interchangeably applicable to containers of various size, as bottles, demij ohns, carboys, etc., is an important desideratum. In the present invention this is now successfully attained. And theconstruction is not complicated, and it does not require substitution of parts on being moved from one container to another. Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear from the following description.

To the accomplishment ofthe foregoing and related ends, said invention, then, comprises the features hereinafter fully described and particularly pointed out in the claims ,.t he following description and the annexed drawing setting forth in detail certain illustrative embodiments of the invention, these being indicative, however, of but a few of the various ways in which the principle of the invention may be employed.

In said annexed drawing:

Fig. l is a view of an embodiment of the invention, partly in perspective, and chiefly in vertical section; and

Fig. 2 is a broken sectional view corresponding to the upper and lower portions of Fig. 1, and showing a modification, on greatly enlarged scale.

In general, the device involves a closure or stopper 2 to coact with the neck 3 of a bottle, demijohn, carboy, etc., and this preferably involves a cork or rubber stopperlike body within which is a stem 5 supporting at its top a plate 6 in the form of a stationary piston. Cooperating with the plate is a reciprocable cylinder 7 which is manually operated by being pressed down, and a coil spring 8 inside serves to return the cylinder to its upper or extended position when released by the operator. Suitable packing 9 is provided for the piston against which the reciprocable cylinder operates. At the top of the cylinder is a port 10 which is for control by the operators finger pressing thereover at appropriate times. A guide stem 11 is secured to the top of the cylinder 7, and a bore 12 leads from the port 10 to an opening 13 into the cylinder. The guide stem 11 is closed below, and in the movement of the cylinder 7 travels air-tight in the guideway in stem 5. The lower end of the guideway is headed as at 14 to prevent its being withdrawn-from the stem. Thus, the cylinder 7 with its guide 11 may be reciprocated up and down in the function of the device, and the skirt of the cylinder is of such a diameter as to pass over the neck of the container 3 to the full limit of the excursion movement. In the closure also is a discharge tube 15, this being set in air-tight relation, in the closure or stopper, and the outer end of the tube is suitably bent to provide a properly directed discharge end 16. The inner end of the tube 15 forms an extension 17 in the container, and where desired a suitable extension 18 may be secured thereto, and the 2,771,226 Patented lflov. 20,1956

latter ll'tlay s a, flexibleaiion-cori odi n'g. tnh ton inuhication between the pu p chamber-land -the. cpn tainer for passage of air in the operation of thelpump,.is a ,bor'e 19.. This is p 'eculiar, in that his {otgre t length andsmau caliber. For instance,its dianietermaysatisfactorily-be on theorder. of 0.03. in. ,As the operator presses the pump cylinder down, his. forefingerlb eingfon the port 10, the air in the cylindenisexpelled through lthe bore l9 into'the, top of the container. relaxing the pressure and coverage of theport lth t .cylinder, 7 rebounds, and the operator may then immediately repeatthe pressing down of the cylinder and forcemore airthrough thebore 19. The air flowfrom. thepump through. such restricted caliber is quite adequatebecame ofthe, rela tively high pressure in the pump as comparedwith thatlin the container, and back flqw on .rebound with the pump is negligible because ofthe resistance inwthepassageto flow under relativelyv low pressure, fThus, bya few. strokes of the pump cylinder, pressure is builtup, in the container suflicient to force the liquid from .thealower portion v .of the container to the discharge means .to a desired receptacle. Thus, the. peculiarity-ofthepassageway 19 i s--its providinga means for retarding the rateof How of air from the container to the-pump. whenathe pump is quiescent, equalization of air pressure between the chamber and the container. can take place ultimately. But, the retarding rneans..works effectively against. backflow from low pressure area to high pressure area while the P n 15 .9 -thsh s.'t a h r ih& r fiflO -fm the e h iherta-the P 1 39 5 s n he h b e w hht P95j i y1Q fLQ Z U Ti ser c the irs s rnot dh ea i-hr h m y :Qhhh surfaces subject .to wearand'change. The function here involved is also one which could not be attained byvalve means,,-as-itis required that there be 'a passageway open continually without interruption.

The manner of operation of the device is understood from the foregoing. To withdraw a charge of liquid from the container to a receptacle held under the discharge 16, the operator closes the port 10 with his forefinger and presses the cylinder 7 down and then releases. The downward movement of the cylinder forces the air content of the cylinder through the passageway 19 into the top of the container, and depending upon the space there, the pump cylinder is pressed down in repetition sufiicient to effect discharge of the desired amount of liquid, and in each reciprocation the restricted bore 19 provides passage of the high pressure air from the pump, but back-flow from the container is obviated.

The feature of the passage for communication between the pump cylinder and the container being a free way for high pressure air but retarding back-flow, a modification of the passageway may be provided in the form of construction as shown in Fig. 2. Here, the cylinder 7 and the port 10 and coil spring 8 are the same as shown in Fig. 1, and the fixed piston in relation to the stem of the stopper or closure are the same, and likewise the discharge conduit or tube. The difference here is that the stem 5' instead of having a bore 19 as in Fig. 1, is solid. And the guide 11' is tubular throughout, and has the same opening 13 into the pump cylinder. The guide 11 at its lower end, like the guide in Fig. 1, has an air-tight sliding fit in the stem 5, and to prevent its being withdrawn therefrom in upward movement, the retaining head 14 is in the form of a screw. A peculiarity here is that combined means are involved for providing such retaining head, and at the same time providing the means for retarding the rate of flow of air from the container to the pump. The screw 14 has a size relation to the tube 11' such that the threads of the screw as set into place bite superficially into the wall of the tube, and leave a spiral air passage in the threading between the screw body and the wall of the tube, instead of being in-tight closing ofi'f relation. Thus, there is again a small caliber bore, here in spiral form from the interior of the cylinder 7 by way of the opening 13, between the screw body and the tube wall, and ending at theopening 20 below, such opening being the outlet of the spiral passageway around the screw body. The operation of this form of the device is the same as, described with respect to the form of Fig. 1. a

' Othermodes of applying the principle of the invention may be employed, change being made as regards the details described, provided the features stated in any of the following claims, or the equivalent of such, be employed.

I therefore particularly point out and distinctly claim as my invention:

1. In a liquid dispenser having a pump supported on a closure for a container opening and a discha ge tube in such closure which communicates between liquid in the container and apoint of discharge outside, guide means for the pump relative to the closure, finger-controlled means foradrm'tting air from outside into the pump, and means for admitting pressure air from the pump into the container and for retarding the rate of flow from the container to the pump embodiying a continually open helical connecting passageway.

2. In a liquid dispenser, the combination set forth in claim 1' including means for forming the connecting passageway and preventing upward withdrawal of said guide means.

I 3. A liquid dispenser comprising pump means having a normally open finger closable passage communicating with the atmosphere and providing ready direct supply of air therethrough to the pump chamber, and mounting means attached to said pump means adapted to support the latter on a container for liquids at the container outlet, said mounting means including a continually open air conduit which provides communication between the pump chamber and the interior of such container, the air conduit being of smaller section than said finger closable passage phere for the direct supply of air therethrough to the pump chamber, mounting means attached to said pump means adapted to support the latter on a container for liquids at the container outlet, guide means secured to said pumping member for reciprocation therewith and extending through said mounting means, said guide means being hollow and provided with openings serving to form an air passage between the pump chamber and the container interior through the guide means, and means restricting a portion of such air passage to a relatively small section effective to resist the flow of low pressure air through the same, whereby such restricted portion readily passes high pressure air from the pump means to the container and retards reverse flow of relatively low pressure air.

5. A liquid dispenser as set forth in claim 4 in which said guide means is tubular and a stop member is superfically screw-threaded into an end of the same, the threads thereby defining with the wall of the guide means the restricted portion of the air passage between the pump means and container, said stop member having a head which engages the mounting means to limit withdrawal of the guide means therefrom.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,106,937 Goff Aug. 11, 1914 1,370,706 Price Mar. 8, 1921 2,069,383 Nedbalek Feb. 2, 1937 2,154,393 Bates Apr. 11, 1939' 

